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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22900918">Everything Between Us</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvatarAbby/pseuds/AvatarAbby'>AvatarAbby</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Baby, Babysitting, Custody Arrangements, F/M, Friendship, Happy Ending, Pre-canon LOK, Secrets, Unplanned Pregnancy, post-canon atla</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:40:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,710</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22900918</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvatarAbby/pseuds/AvatarAbby</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a collection of short fics that highlights the relationship between Sokka and Toph over the years.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka &amp; Aang, Toph Beifong &amp; Sokka, Toph Beifong/Sokka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>159</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Nothing I Wouldn’t Do</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>When Toph doesn’t show up to the council meeting, Sokka begins to worry. He does some investigating that leads him to re-examine his life and priorities.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>        Sokka was staring to get worried.<br/>
        It wasn’t like Toph to miss council meetings. In fact, she was always early, wanting to jump in and face any issues head on. True, neither her nor Sokka exactly liked dealing with the other council members and their pretentious attitudes, but they both understood that they had to play the game if they wanted to make any real changes in the city.<br/>
         So when she didn’t show up at all, Sokka knew something was off. The meeting continued as normal, but the water tribesman felt a tugging at the back of his mind to get to the bottom of this.<br/>
        So, he went to HQ.<br/>
        He had been there many times, whether to have lunch with Toph, interrogate a criminal, drop Lin off after she finished school, or any other number of things. So no one bat an eye when he walked in and strolled up to the desk of Toph’s assistant.<br/>
         “Councilmen Sokka!” Hana said, smiling at him and putting down her paperwork. “What a pleasant surprise.”<br/>
         “Hana, always lovely to see you,” Sokka winked, hoping it would earn him some brownie points for the request he was about to make.  “Listen, I’m sure Toph is very busy, but if you could find a way for me to just slip in and have a word with her, that would be much appreciated.”<br/>
          Bewilderment appeared across her face. “I’m sorry, Councilmen, but Chief Beifong placed herself on leave indefinitely.”<br/>
           “What! Why?”<br/>
           “I’m not entirely sure myself. I have been instructed to cancel or delegate her meetings until further notice. Officer Kim is filling in for the time being. I’d be more than happy to schedule a time for you two to talk.”<br/>
            In a daze, Sokka turned around, just barely remembering to respond. “No, that won’t be needed. Thank you for your time.” He started walking toward the exit, confused at what had just happened. What was going on with Toph that was so bad that she wasn’t going to work? Was Lin sick? Had her parents come for a surprise visit (though Toph called them inspections)? <br/>
           But no, neither of those could be it. She definitely would have told him, or at least Katara, if Lin had gotten sick. And neither of those scenarios would result in Toph not knowing when she would be back at work.<br/>
         Just what was going on?<br/>
————————————————————<br/>
          Sokka started furiously knocking on the Beifong house. When nothing happened, he continued to knock. He wasn’t leaving til he knew what was going on, he would resort to smashing one of the windows and entering that way if it came to that.<br/>
         “Ok, ok I’m coming!” He heard a voice through the door. When it opened, Toph stood right before him. But she wasn’t the same fresh-faced chief of police he knew. Her complexion was pale, her hair was down and disheveled, and she was in sweats and a tank top. Bags were under her eyes, so heavy it looked as if she hadn’t slept in a week. <br/>
         “Toph, you look terrible.”<br/>
          “I wouldn’t know. Now is there something important you need to talk about or are you just here to annoy me?”<br/>
          “Where have you been? Hana said you left your job, you didn’t show up to the council meeting today, and where is Lin?”<br/>
           Toph turned around and starting walking towards the kitchen, but left the door open for him to follow. “Relax, I already dropped Lin off at school this morning and Katara and Aang are gonna pick her up and watch her at Air Temple Island. And I didn’t leave my job, I’m just taking a break. No big deal.”<br/>
           “It is a big deal. You never take breaks, you have like a hundred vacation days banked up and refuse to use them. No matter how much me or Katara or Zuko or anyone else begs you to take time off, you have never taken a full day to just relax. It makes no sense for you to take leave indefinitely.”<br/>
          Toph slammed the glass of water she was drinking on the table. “Back off, okay! I was feeling sick, and I didn’t know when I would get better, so I decided that I would go on leave so I wouldn’t have to keep calling in sick every day.”<br/>
         Worry flooded all of Sokkas’ being. “How long have you been calling in sick? Why didn’t you tell Katara? You know she would have dropped everything to check you out.”<br/>
         “I didn’t tell her because I can control my own life!! I don’t need you or your sister or Twinkletoes telling me how to get better or raise my child. I can take care of myself, by myself.”<br/>
           In the back of his mind, Sokka knew he shouldn’t be pressing this, especially since she was so sick. But all rationality had been thrown out the window. He was angry. “That is complete Hog-Monkey! You always do this! You never let us in! We aren’t trying to control your life, we are trying to help you. That’s what a team does! You don’t have to do it all on your own. If you could just see that, if you could just let us -let me- in, you wouldn’t have to hide things from me. You wouldn’t force me to go ask Hana where you are, because she knows more about your life than I do.”<br/>
         “She’s my assistant!”<br/>
         “And I’m your best friend! Or at least I thought I was.” <br/>
          “Fine! You wanna know what’s going on? I’m pregnant!”<br/>
————————————————————<br/>
        It was the next day, and Sokka was eagerly waiting for Aang to arrive. He needed advice, and as smart as Katara was, she wasn’t exactly the one he wanted to talk to about this particular situation.<br/>
        Monkey feathers, Sokka thought, why didn’t I see it?<br/>
        Looking back, it had made perfect sense. The only other time Toph had taken leave was when she was pregnant with Lin, and that was only after she ended up in a bad accident and he had finally convinced her she had to stop working. She had had terrible morning sickness all throughout her first trimester, often keeping her up through the night. She didn’t go to Katara because she didn’t want her to find out when examining her. All the pieces were falling into place.<br/>
        Well, except one.<br/>
        Why hadn’t she told him?<br/>
        At that moment, Aang walked through the door, dressed in full Air Nomad attire. Catching sight of Sokka, the Avatar went walked towards the table and sat down.<br/>
        “Sorry I’m late. Was playing with the kids and lost track of time.”<br/>
        “That’s alright,” Sokka said, not taking his eyes off of his plate.<br/>
         A waitress placed a bowl of Aangs’ regular - buttered noodles- and walked away after the air bender gave a nod of appreciation. Now having gotten his food, Aang turned his attention back to his lunch companion. “Ok, you are not scarfing down your food, so something is clearly up. Now tell me, what does my brother-in-law want to talk about?” <br/>
         Sokka scratched the back of his head. “I.... I have some news.”<br/>
         “Good news I hope.”<br/>
         “It’s......complicated news.”<br/>
          “I see. Well, I’m always happy to lend an ear and give advice.”<br/>
          Sokka took a deep breathe and ripped off the bandage. “Toph’s pregnant.”<br/>
          Aang waited a moment before saying, “And you’re the father?”er<br/>
          Sokkas’ eyes went wide and he dropped his fork. “How did you know?”<br/>
          “Oh Katara and I have known you two were together for weeks. Katara wanted to say something, but I convinced her to stay quiet for the time being. Zuko has no clue, but that’s because he’s been going back and forth between here and the Fire Nation and, well, he’s Zuko. Kinda oblivious unless it’s right there in his face.”<br/>
      “But how did you figure it out? We’ve been discrete.”<br/>
       The Avatar chuckled. “Maybe Toph has. She’s always been very aloof, very good at keeping her emotions and her personal life under wraps. But you? For months you’ve been seeing her more often, watching out for her, making sure she never has an empty drink at parties. Stuff like that.”<br/>
       “I’ve always been protective of Toph.”<br/>
       “True, but it’s not just the way you act. It’s the way you look at her. Like she is the only thing that matters in this world.”<br/>
        Sokka sighed and poked at his food. “Well, you two were wrong about one thing. We aren’t ‘together’. It’s casual. Toph made it very clear that what we have isn’t gonna turn into something.”<br/>
         “Sokka, I think it already has ‘turned into something.’ She’s pregnant.”<br/>
         “Yeah, I guess so.”<br/>
         “How are you feeling about all of this?”<br/>
            “Confused. Toph’s not sure how to feel about it. Lin’s almost seven, she thought she was done having kids. I think she’s scared that she will have to start all over again, you know?”<br/>
         “Yeah, that’s understandable. But you didn’t answer my question. How do you feel about it?”<br/>
          Sokka paused to think about it, then answered. “I am happy. I’ve been thinking about having kids these past few years, but I  didn’t really date anyone after Suki. It’s like a dream come true.<br/>
        “On the other hand, I’m terrified. I mean, I don’t know the first thing about being a dad, what if I fail?”<br/>
         “I know how you feel.”<br/>
         “Please Aang, don’t say stuff just to make me feel better. You and Katara were together since you were twelve and have been married since you were twenty. By the time the kids came around, you two had everything figured out.”<br/>
         The air bender fidgeted with his hands. “I didn’t want to have kids.”<br/>
          Sokka was startled. “What? But you’ve always loved children.”<br/>
          “Yes, but I knew there was a difference between liking children and raising them. I also knew there was a possibility of some of my kids being air benders and some of them not. I worried that I would accidentally show favoritism to one kid, neglecting the others.”<br/>
      “Everyone knows you love your children equally.”<br/>
       “I do. But everyone also knows that there will be things that Tenzin and I share that will put us closer together in the spotlight than the others. I worried that I would somehow have more pride in one of my children. That was my biggest fear.”<br/>
       “Then how come you still had kids?”<br/>
       “Your sister. Katara assured me that there was no way I would let that happen and there was no way she would let that happened- she’d kick me out of the house first. She helped me take that leap of faith. But I was still so nervous when she told me she was pregnant and all throughout the pregnancy. I was so sure I would screw it all up. Do you know what changed my mind?”<br/>
         “What?”<br/>
          “Bumi. The minute I looked into his eyes, I knew that it didn’t matter if he was an air bender, or a water bender, or not a bender at all. I loved him so much. That’s what being a parent is all about. That overwhelming sensation of unconditional love you can’t find anywhere else. Sokka, I can tell you about how everything will all make sense eventually till the end of time, but you won’t know until you have gone through it yourself.”<br/>
            Sokka looked down at his plate, which was nearly empty. “Toph says I don’t have to worry about it, that she can do it all on her own.”<br/>
            “And she absolutely could. But just because you can do something alone doesn’t mean you have to. This is your life too, Sokka. You have some say in how this story plays out. But you’ll never have an opportunity if you don’t ask for it.”<br/>
        Sokka thought back to the time they went to that fortune teller, Aunt Wu, and she told him he would have a hard life, mostly due to his own poor choices. As much as he hate to admit that that quack was right, he had made some decisions that had led to his own suffering. But that was in the past, he could be happy, he could get what he wanted. He just had to take that first step.                             <br/>
        “You’re right Aang. You are absolutely right.”<br/>
————————————————————<br/>
        Sokka once again knocked on Toph’s house, this time a lot more calm and self-assured. And this time, when Toph answered the door, she let him in immediately and silently.<br/>
         Sitting on the couch in her living room, Sokka was able to see the little changes that had come upon the women across from him. She was still in sweats and had bags under her eyes, but they looked less intense, like she had finally gotten a good night sleep. Her hair was up in its’ usual bun and some of her natural color had returned to her face. <br/>
          “You’re looking better.”<br/>
          “Yeah, well, Twinkletoes and Sugar Queen are watching the little badger mole for a couple days, so I was able to get some sleep. Lin seemed really happy to get to go play with the kids.”<br/>
       “That’s nice.”<br/>
        A few minutes of silence passed before Sokka decided to start the conversation they both knew he was here for. “So I thought about what you said.”<br/>
        The blind women continued to keep her head aimed at the floor. “I meant it,you know. I can handle this-“<br/>
        “I don’t want that.”<br/>
        Surprise flooded her face but she stayed silent.<br/>
        “Listen, I know when you said we started seeing each other that this couldn’t turn into something heavy. But the circumstances have changed on us. We didn’t anticipate them, but we can control what happens now. I want to be a part of our kids’ life. More than that, I want to be a part of yours and Lins’ lives. You both mean so much to me.”<br/>
       Toph sighed, as if she had been thinking about this for a long time. “Sokka, it isn’t that simple.”<br/>
        “But isn’t it? I have feelings for you, I assume you have feelings for me. Why can’t we try?”<br/>
        Suddenly, Toph said in a quiet voice, “It’s Lin.”<br/>
        “What?”<br/>
       “If you are in our lives, this kid will have their biological father around all the time, helping them, raising them, attending their events at school. Lin won’t have that. Her dad doesn’t know she even exists and I have no way to contact him. I don’t want her to feel left behind.”<br/>
         For the water tribesman, there was no hesitation in his response, “I can be both their fathers.”<br/>
          “That wouldn’t work. Lin is old enough to know you aren’t her dad and telling her you are will just make her feel worse.”<br/>
           “I don’t mean it like that. Listen, Aang told me something today. He said that parenthood is this overwhelming sense of unconditional love and that one day I’ll experience that. But he was wrong, I already have that- with Lin. True, she isn’t biologically my kid. But I was there the day she was born, I was at her birthday parties and school plays. I was there when she said her first word and threw her first rock. She’s a part of me. I can’t think of anything I wouldn’t do for that girl. And I can’t think of anything I wouldn’t do for you.<br/>
           “If it makes you feel better, we don’t have to tell anyone outside the group that they are mine. We can keep our relationship private until enough time has passed for no one to suspect that I am the child’s father.”<br/>
       The chief of police sat there for a long time, forcing Sokka to patiently wait for an answer. <br/>
       The one he got brought a smile to his face.<br/>
                <br/>
           </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Babysitting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sokka babysits Lin while Toph is away and things get messy.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     “Thank you so much for doing this,” Toph said as she placed an eighteen-month-old Lin into Sokkas’ arms. “The call came out of the blue and Sugarqueen and Twinkletoes are still out of town.”<br/>
     “It’s no problem Toph, really.” Sokka was excited to spend time with Lin. His sister was always the first pick when it came babysitting, so he jumped at the chance to watch her while Toph went on a police raid. “Me and the little badgermole will have so much fun together. You have nothing to worry about while she’s under my watch.”<br/>
      “Okay, but you’re actually gonna watch her right? You can’t just set her down and pick up the paper to read. She’s at that stage where she puts everything in her mouth and if you leave her alone for a second-“<br/>
     “Relax. I’ve taken care of kids before. She’ll be perfectly safe. Now go, do the police thing.”<br/>
     Toph sighed in resignation and gave Lin a kiss on the forehead. Then, after ensuring all her armor was secured, she walked out the door.<br/>
     That was when Lin started screaming. He figured this would happen, that’s what kids at this age did when their mom left. But dang, was this kid loud.<br/>
      “It’s okay, honey. Your mom is gonna be back real soon.” That only seem to make her more upset. Sokka decided that he would take her to the nursery and attempt to occupy her with whatever was in there.<br/>
     Once in the room, Sokka placed the baby on the floor and sat down right next to her. He made funny faces, gave her a stuffed animal, even tried to bribe her with a cookie.<br/>
     Nothing worked. The kid just continued to wail, shouting one of the only words she knew. Mommy.<br/>
     The water tribesman didn’t know how Toph did it. Sure, she wasn’t crying for mommy when she was in fact right there, but she was surely upset about other things throughout the time they spent together. And spirit world forbid she stepped out of sight for even a moment...<br/>
     Sokka tried to remember what his friend had said earlier about calming Lin down, but it was kinda hard to concentrate with all the noise.<br/>
     Suddenly, he remembered that the police chief had made special ABC blocks out of earth for her kid. She thought that it would be a good way to bond with her baby as she grew up, and this way she could actually read the letters. The man looked through all the baskets until he finally found what he was looking for.<br/>
     “Look, Lin,” he said excitedly, “ I got your blocks. Don’t they look fun!” The little girl was handed the object and, for a moment, she seemed fascinated by them, turning them on different sides and giggling at the sound they made when she picked them up and dropped them from various heights.<br/>
     Then she looked up and around to see where her mom was. She wanted to play with her. When she saw she wasn’t there, she went back to screaming. <br/>
     “No, Lin! I know your mom isn’t here and I’m a poor replacement for her but I’m trying my best. And I assumed that since your mom loves the earth, you would too.”<br/>
     At first, Sokka started to belittle himself internally. He couldn’t reason with an eighteen-month-old. She wasn’t going to suddenly realize that her mom was coming back in a couple hours at most and she just had to ‘hang on.’ Lin just knew her mom wasn’t there and she wanted her back right now. <br/>
     But as he thought more about it, an idea came into his head. Yes, the blocks hadn’t worked for more than a few seconds, but they had worked. And he was right. Lin was Tophs’ daughter. If the Beifong women were anything alike, they didn’t want to just hold earth. They had to be immersed in it.<br/>
     Sokka had an idea.<br/>
————————————————————<br/>
     “What is going on here?!!?” Toph yelled at the sight she saw when she looked out at the backyard.<br/>
     Sokka looked up. “Oh, Toph. You’re home.”<br/>
     “Yeah I’m home. I’ve only been gone for a few hours. How did my yard become a a mud pit?”<br/>
     Toph wasn’t exaggerating. The yard was covered in mud. And in the middle of it all was Lin, happily and messily splashing in it.<br/>
      “Well, Lin wouldn’t stop crying and I thought that if she got to play in the backyard she could calm down. I remember you telling me she liked being outside.”<br/>
     “Doesn’t explain why my daughter is now rolling around in filth.”<br/>
     “Well, she’s your daughter. I thought she would enjoy getting a little dirty. And look! She loves it!!”<br/>
     “She also loves it when I toss her in the air, that doesn’t mean I should throw her like a ball.”<br/>
     “Toph, don’t make this a bigger deal than it-“<br/>
     “You can’t just let a baby roll around in mud!! She could’ve put some in her mouth and choked. And now she’s all dirty.”<br/>
     “Okay, you need relax.”<br/>
     “No, I will not relax! I’m a mom now, it’s my job to make sure she’s healthy and safe. I can’t just have her-“<br/>
     The conversation stopped when she felt something splash all over her. She sensed that Lin was upright and had a very fast heartbeat. Forgetting everything, Toph immediately scooped up her daughter and started to rock her.<br/>
    Sokka stared at the kid in shock, “Did she just earth bend?”<br/>
     “I think so.”<br/>
     “You think? This hasn’t happened before.”<br/>
     The chief of police shook her head. “They say this is about the age they start to, and they usually start when they pick up on high emotions.”<br/>
     “Like us fighting.”<br/>
     “Like us fighting,” she agreed.<br/>
————————————————————<br/>
     “Lin has been washed and put down for bed,” Sokka said as he sat down next to Toph in her kitchen.<br/>
     “Thanks,” she said as she handed him a glass of water. They sat in silence for a long time until she broke the silence.<br/>
     “I lied.”<br/>
     The water tribesman looked to his friend in confusion. “About what?”<br/>
     “I didn’t have a police thing tonight.”<br/>
     “Then why-“<br/>
     “My parents came into town.”<br/>
     “Oh.”<br/>
     “And they want custody of Lin.”<br/>
     “What!”<br/>
     Sadness overwhelmed Tophs’ voice and body. “They keep saying I need help. Because I’m blind and single, I can’t be as attentive to Lin as they would be able too. And they have more money, so she wouldn’t want for anything.”<br/>
     “That’s crazy!”<br/>
     “But is it? I am all alone Sokka, I thought that as time went on I would feel more confident as a parent but it’s just getting harder. I worry that I’m screwing her up by keeping her with me.”<br/>
     Sokka turned to look directly at his friend and took her hand. “Toph, you aren’t alone. You have me and the rest of your friends, your real family, to help you. We are here for you. You aren’t screwing her up, parenting is hard for everyone. I did it for a couple hours and ended up turning your backyard into a mud slide!”<br/>
     The woman laughed. “Yeah, you are a mess. In all seriousness, I’m sorry I yelled at you. I really do appreciate you watching her, and she did seem to have a really fun time.”<br/>
     “Yeah she did! Because she knows who’s the best.<br/>
     “So,” he asked, “does this mean that I’m at the top of the babysitting list now?”<br/>
     “Oh, absolutely not. I’d still pick Katara over you any day. She leaves things cleaner than when she found them.”<br/>
     “Come on!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Maybe Being Alone Isn’t Such A Bad Thing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Toph find out some unexpected news and Sokka is there to comfort her.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Sokka walked into the house on Air Temple Island, excited to spend time with his niece and nephews. It had been only a few months since Tenzin, the latest and apparently final addition to the family, had been born, and the water tribesman was anxious to hold the newborn once again. He also was hoping for a free, home-cooked meal, even if it was vegetarian.<br/>
     But judging by the look the Avatar gave when he saw him, now wasn’t exactly the best time.<br/>
     “Sokka!” Aang yelled rather loudly, approaching the guest with a sleeping baby in his arm. “What are you doing here?”<br/>
     “Well, hello to you too. I was just stopping by to see how you and Katara were doing. Three kids, that’s a lot.”<br/>
     The air nomad shifted his eyes back and forth. “Yeah, it can be a handful. In fact, I think Tenzin is a little too fussy to see his favorite uncle today, just been screaming all day. So maybe some other time.”<br/>
     “Aang. Tenzin is sleeping in your arms.”<br/>
     He flushed, instantly caught in a lie. “Katara would be a lot better at this.”<br/>
     “Why do you need to do this anyway? Is everything okay?”<br/>
     The Avatar sighed in defeat. “Toph is here.”<br/>
     “Huh?”<br/>
     “She’s with Katara now. She came over asking to be examined. Apparently has been nauseous for weeks and thinks something might be wrong. Katara agreed and the two went to the healing pool on the island.”<br/>
     “Okay, but why not just tell me that?”<br/>
     “Toph didn’t want you to worry,” Katara said as she entered the room alone. “Sokka, I know that you really care about her. But your obsessive worrying can sometimes make situations worse.”<br/>
     Her brother than asked, “Do I have a reason to worry? Is something wrong?”<br/>
     The water bender looked down hesitantly. “I think that’s something you’re going to have to ask Toph.”<br/>
      Deciding the two were no help, Sokka turned around and headed back outside, walking towards the location of the healing pool. <br/>
     It took a while, but he finally reached his destination. The sight he witnessed did not lessen any of his fears.<br/>
     Toph was sitting right next to the water, with her legs tucked underneath her. Her hair was up in it’s usual bun and she wore an outfit similar to the one she wore everyday. But something was inherently different about her. The chief of police seemed to be on the verge of a massive breakdown.<br/>
     Slowly, Sokka sat down next to her and looked into her eyes, if only to make himself feel more connected in talking to her. “Toph?”<br/>
     Toph sighed, “It’s all ruined, Sokka.”<br/>
     “What is?”<br/>
     “Everything!” The earth bender slammed her fists into the ground, causing shrapnel to fly through the air. “My life, my career, my relationship. It’s all gone.”<br/>
     “I’m sure you’re over exaggerating the situation. Whatever it is-“ the water tribesman stopped himself as a thought occurred to him. Only one thing could make his friend, the most nonchalant person he knew, react like this. <br/>
     “Toph, are you dying?”<br/>
     “What!?” The woman turned her head in his direction and gave him a look of pure bewilderment. “No! Why on earth would you think that?”<br/>
     “I don’t know!” Sokka raised his hands defensively. “You were talking about your life being over and stuff.”<br/>
     “We both know I’m never going to die, meat head. I’m immortal. Aang will reach his last life before my time comes.”<br/>
     “Well if it’s not that, then-“<br/>
     “I’m pregnant,” Toph blurted out. Sokka immediately was shaken physically, almost loosing his balance completely and falling into the pool. <br/>
     “You’re pregnant!? What? How?”<br/>
    “I think you are a little old to be needing this conversation.”<br/>
     The man gave his companion a glare that went fully unnoticed. “I know how. It’s just... I’m shocked.”<br/>
     The earth bender breathed so her bangs would fly up. “You are shocked? Believe me, no one was as stunned to here the news as me.”<br/>
     “So, you weren’t trying to be a mom?”<br/>
     “Nope. Had no desire to be one. Not sure if I do even now.”<br/>
     The two sat quietly for a really long time, Toph just listening to the vibrations of the earth and Sokka sat staring at the water. He wished he had something to say that would make everything better, but this was entirely new territory for him. The only other expectant mother he had been around for a long period of time was Katara, and she had planned her whole life out to the letter. His sister hadn’t needed words of encouragement the way his friend did now.<br/>
     “Well,” he tried, “your life isn’t over, just changing. And your relationship with Kanto doesn’t have to end. Just look at Katara and Aang, they have whole gaggle of children and they are as nauseating as ever.”<br/>
     “Kanto is gone.”<br/>
     “What?”<br/>
     “He left just a couple weeks ago. Got a job offer in Ba Sing Se. He wanted to move and I didn’t. So we ended things.”<br/>
     “Send him a letter. I’ll write it for-“<br/>
     “I don’t have his address.”<br/>
    “We can go to the city and look for him.”<br/>
    “I’m not going to wander around Ba Sing Se looking for a guy who left me! I don’t care if I’m having his baby, I’m not that pathetic.”<br/>
    “Asking for help from your child’s father isn’t pathetic. You shouldn’t have to do this alone.”<br/>
     That was when a Toph started crying. “I am doing this alone. No matter what happens, Kanto will still be hundreds of miles away, my parents and I will barely be on speaking terms, and I’ll be the single police chief who got herself knocked up like an idiot. Katara and Aang have their own kids now and you are busy doing whatever it is you do these days. You can try to spin it all you want Sokka, but it doesn’t change the fact that I screwed up and I am utterly and completely alone.”<br/>
     The water tribesman took a long pause before calmly saying. “Maybe being alone isn’t such a bad thing. I’ve never pictured you as a mom.”<br/>
     “Wow, you must charm expectant mothers all around the city.”<br/>
     “It’s just you never seemed one to go along with the status quo,” he amended. “Get married, have kids, spend your days in the domestic life.”<br/>
     The women made a disgusted face. “Yeah, definitely not me.”<br/>
     “But you aren’t doing it like that. You are gonna be on your own, helping your kid learn how to bend and taking it to the police station. You’ll most likely order a lot of take-out and go on spontaneous trips.  The rest of the team will always be here to help, but you are following your own path, just like you always have. It’s one of the reasons I admire you so much.”<br/>
     “Really?”<br/>
     “Yes really. You’re gonna be a great mom, Toph, and you’ll do it in your own unique way.”<br/>
     The earth bender smiled at such high praise, then punched her companion hard in the shoulder. “Don’t tell anyone I cried.”<br/>
     Sokka chuckled, “don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”<br/>
     The two sat in silence for the next hour, watching the sunset on the horizon and thinking of the future, imagining a path no one had ever dared to create before.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoyed! Comments and Kudos always appreciates!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. New Addition, New Beginings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sokka meets Lin Beifong for the first time.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>      Sokka sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair, bent over with his head resting in his hands. Every once in a while, he would take a walk around the maternity ward to keep himself awake, but it didn’t change the fact that he was exhausted.<br/>     Toph Beifong had been in labor for thirty-six hours. While she had insisted that no one else be in the delivery room, she had asked for at least one of her friends to be there at all times, just in case something happened. So everyone from Katara and Aang to Zuko came in shifts, waiting for news to arrive.<br/>     But as hard as everyone pushed, the water tribesman couldn’t leave the building. He had to know for himself that everything was okay. He had seen how much Toph had struggled throughout her pregnancy, from morning sickness and back aches to the hard reality that everything she did, she had to do it alone. It hurt so much to see her have to deal with it all, he figured the least he could do was be there when it mattered most.<br/>      “Please let them be all right,” he whispered to no one in particular. “Please let them both be all right.”<br/>     Half an hour later, a nurse came out and led him to the room where Toph was located. He took in the sight of it all through the doorframe. The chief of police was sitting on the side of the bed, her feet touching the floor. She was in a white hospital gown, her hair messy and sweat covering her body. In her arms was a little white bundle with a face peering out, eyes closed in sleep, her mom beaming in her direction with such love and devotion.<br/>     Sokka took a few steps into the room. “I take it that things went well?” <br/>     The earthbender glanced over in his direction, following the sound of his voice. “Sokka, I am never doing that again!”<br/>     “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”<br/>     “You say that because you will never have to know what it’s like to push a living being out of your body.”<br/>     He chuckled. “You got me there.”<br/>    “Wave after wave of never ending pain. I couldn’t see anything, you know. Not while I was on the bed.”<br/>     Sokka imagined that was truly terrifying, to not be able to see anything during one of the most scary times of her life.<br/>     “But in the end,” she added, “it was all worth it.”<br/>     “I can see that,” the warrior agreed, looking at the new life brought into the world. “The baby is beautiful, Toph, if not squishy-looking. Is it a boy or girl?”<br/>     “Girl,” the women stated with a proud grin. “She’s a girl and her name is Lin.”<br/>     “Lin Beifong. Has a nice ring to it.” Then Sokka asked the question that had been a sensitive topic since the beginning. <br/>     “Can she see?”<br/>     Toph simply nodded, all of her focus on her newborn. Sokka found it amazing, how much the women in front of him had grown in such a short time. It seemed like only yesterday she was running away from her home, running away from her problems. But now here she was, a mom prepared for whatever came her way, ready to stand her ground and protect the things that mattered most to her.<br/>     “Would you like to hold her?”<br/>     Sokka hesitated for a moment, then replied yes. Ever so carefully, the baby Beifong was placed in his arms. Suddenly her eyes flew open, but she remained quiet, mesmerized by the new face that was gazing down at her. The water tribesman heart swelled instantly, already in love with the new addition. <br/>     He lowered his head and whispered to the baby, “welcome to the world, Lin Beifong.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I just love stories about Lin and Sokka bonding, whether I’m reading or writing them! Thanks for reading as always! Comments, kudos, tips and tricks are always appreciated!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Waiting is Torture</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sokka waits to hear news about Toph after she gets hurt on the job while pregnant.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     “Sokka!”<br/>     The water tribesman got up from the uncomfortable chair and embraced his sibling in a tight hug. <br/>     “Hey, little sister. Thanks for coming.” <br/>     Katara pulled back and gave him a once-over. “Of course I came. Aang wanted to come too but someone had to stay home to watch the kids. He’s going to send a messenger hawk to Zuko, see if he can come into the city for the week.”<br/>     Sokka sat back down in the hospital waiting room, rubbing his head. “Right, Zuko. He should be here.”<br/>     The woman sat down next to her brother and looked at him intently. “Sokka, what exactly happened tonight? All I heard was that something had happened to Toph.”<br/>      “I’m still trying to figure it all out myself. Apparently Toph was involved in a stakeout to try and catch some high-end robbers. They spotted them breaking into a building, chased them up to the roof. One of them tried to cause a diversion by pushing the chief of police off the roof.”<br/>     Shock washed over Katara’s face, but she remained silent for him to continue.<br/>     “Didn’t work, obviously. They caught the guys immediately. Luckily, Toph fell onto a balcony right below the roof rather than falling ten stories high. Probably saved her life. She has a couple broken bones and they are going to keep her here for a couple of days for observation, but it would seem she’s going be fine. She’s sleeping now.”<br/>     “What about the baby?”<br/>     “All they would tell me was that there’s still a heartbeat. Didn’t give any indication to  it’s condition or what could happen going forward. I don’t think they are entirely sure themselves.”<br/>     Katara looked hesitantly to her brother, a question popping into her head. “How did you get here so quickly? And know so much information? I thought they were supposed to only tell medical news to family members.”<br/>     “Toph made me her emergency contact and proxy after Kanto left. She doesn’t have any relatives in town or close by, so she asked me to do it.”<br/>     “Why you?”<br/>     Sokka shifted his head to his sister. “Excuse me?”<br/>     “I didn’t mean it like that. Why did she pick you specifically? Are you two together or something?”<br/>     “No, we are not together! I’ve just been helping her out through the pregnancy, that’s all. Zuko is a continent away, ruling a country and dealing with his own issues. You and Aang just had a third baby. It made since that I step up and be there for her.”<br/>     “Wow Sokka. That’s actually really mature of you.”<br/>     “That is why I’m super ticked off at her right now.”<br/>      “And it passes just as quickly as it comes.”<br/>     “She’s almost three months pregnant, Katara! And she went up on that roof anyway.”<br/>      “That’s her job, Sokka.”<br/>     “No one is saying she shouldn’t do her job. I’m just saying she shouldn’t do the parts of the job that could get her severely hurt or killed.”<br/>     “You know Toph isn’t the type of leader who can give orders from a desk. She needs to be with her team, investigating, being out with all the action. To take her away from that is saying that she shouldn’t do her job. And frankly, it isn’t you place to say what she should choose regarding her career.” <br/>     Sokka hung his head in his hands. “I just really care about her.”<br/>     “Of course you do. We all care about Toph.”<br/>     “It’s different for me. You and Aang are together and Zuko has Mai. If something were to happen to another one of us, you’d have you partner, you’re everything, to get you through it. You have someone special to help you when life knocks you down, someone to share the rest of your life with. But me and Toph don’t have that, at least not yet. We only have each other to lean on when things get rough.”<br/>     The waterbender was about to say something, but just then a healer approached them and told them that Toph had woken up and could now receive visitors one at a time. Wordlessly, Sokka stood and walked in the direction of the blind woman’s room.<br/>     The staff seemed to have given her the master suite of hospital rooms, though Toph wouldn’t really care due to the fact she left high society and could see none of the decor. The bed seemed a little larger than the other ones at the hospital, and the room was equipped with it’s own healing pool.<br/>     “I guess being chief of police has its perks, huh?”<br/>     Toph smiled once she recognized the voice of her friend.<br/>     “Yep, nothing but the best for a Beifong.”<br/>     “Apparently Zuko might be coming for a visit.”<br/>     “The Fire Lord himself? I always knew I was special, but this!”<br/>     The earth bender smiled at her own joke. Other than the cast around her left leg and the bandages all over her body, the earth bender looked good. She looked a little groggy, but happy and not at all on pain.<br/>     “They said it looks like you’re going to be okay.”<br/>     “Yep. I never cease to amaze. Though I won’t be able to ‘see’ for a while. Looks like I’ll be out of commission for the time being.”<br/>     “That’s okay. It’ll give you time to work on the nursery.”<br/>     Suddenly, Toph’s face lost all of its’ color, pausing for a second. “I was so worried when they said something could’ve happened to the baby. The healers had me on the bed the whole time they were examining me. I couldn’t tell if there was a heartbeat or not. I had never felt so helpless.”<br/>     “But everything is fine, right?”<br/>     She nodded. “They said nothing appears abnormal. I just have to wait a little longer before I’m fully in the clear.”<br/>     Sokka was relieved, but also hesitant. Sure, everything was fine this time. But what if next time they weren’t so lucky? He knew Katara was right when she said he didn’t have control in how she lived her life, but that didn’t put his mind at ease.<br/>     “Listen, Toph, about going back to work-“<br/>     “Save your breathe, snoozles. I’ve already decided I will be riding the desk for a long time after this. After all, it’s not just me I have to look out for anymore, right?”<br/>     The water tribesman smiled, happy that she had already made the choice for herself.<br/>     “Okay, but if Katara asks, tell her I was the one that convinced you.”<br/>     “Deal.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for reading! I was wondering if there are any people out there who actively read this collection? Honestly I’d be shocked if just one person doesn’t just read it because they were scrolling trough the Tokka tag and it was one of the first things to pop up (no shame, I do it to). If there was, I would probably have more consistant updates to this work. Just being curious, hope you enjoyed!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. One Of The Greatest Kids In The World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sokka has a talk with a teenage Lin, where he finds out she knows he Su Yin’s dad.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     “I am done discussing this with you.”<br/>     “You can’t just shut me down! I have a right to know.”<br/>     “What good would knowing do? It’s not like he’s coming back.”<br/>     Sokka knew something was up the second he entered the Beifong household. He hesitantly walked into the kitchen where he found Toph and a fourteen-year old Lin staring at each other, the tension thick.<br/>     “What’s going on?” <br/>     “Lin is being unreasonable.”<br/>     “Ugh, I can’t talk to you when you’re like this. I’ll be outside!” Lin marched out to the backyard, slamming the door behind her.<br/>     “I brought you guys an early dinner,” the man said as he placed the take-out food on the table.”<br/>     “Thanks,” Toph said, aggressively scrubbing a dirty plate in the sink. <br/>     “Toph?”<br/>     “Mhm?”<br/>     “What is happening here?”<br/>     “It’s Lin.”<br/>      “Yeah, I got that. But what about Lin?”<br/>     Toph placed the dish down and sighed. “She’s asking questions about her dad again.”<br/>     “Oh.”<br/>     Throughout her childhood, Lin had spurts where she became very curious about her biological father. It was usually when her friends asked about him, or she had a school project relating to her family tree. It was obvious that it hurt the girl to know nothing about half of where she came from.<br/>     But it was also obvious that talking about him hurt Toph.<br/>     “I know she can’t help it, but I’m worried that if I talk about him it’ll just make her curiosity grow. He’s never visited Republic City since he left, as far as I know. I don’t even know if he still lives in Ba Sing Se or if he’s even alive.<br/>     “I thought I was doing the right thing by not tracking him down, letting him live his life and moving on with mine. But maybe all I’ve done is make a mess of thing.”<br/>     “You can’t second guess yourself. You did what you thought was best at the time. If it helps, I can talk to Lin. I’ve met her dad, maybe I can answer some of her questions.”<br/>     “You can give it a try. Just nothing too personal,” the earth bender said as she moved towards him. “I’ve got to go pick up Su from school now. See you when we get back.” She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and left. <br/>     Sokka stepped out to the backyard and looked around for Lin. When he spotted her in the back of the yard, he noticed that she was training, bending sheets of metal to her will and aiming them at the practice dummies.<br/>     “You’re getting good at this,” the water tribesman supplied.<br/>     “Let me guess,” the earth bender huffed as she made another attack, “Mom sent you out here to talk to me.”<br/>     “No, your mother left to pick up your sister. Talking to you was my idea.”<br/>     “Sokka, I’m not in the mood to hear about how she’s just trying to protect me.”<br/>     “Well that’s good, cause I’m here to tell you about my dad.”<br/>      That stop Lin dead in her tracks. The metal dropping in midair, crashing to the ground a few feet away from it’s target. <br/>     “How do you know my dad?”<br/>    “I certainly didn’t know him as much as your mom did, but I hung out with him a few times when they were dating.” <br/>    The two went back inside the house and sat at the dining room table. The young girl didn’t waste anytime.<br/>     “What’s his name?”<br/>     “I’m not gonna tell you that. If your mom found out that I actually gave you his name, I’d never hear the end of it.”<br/>     “Okay, then what did he do?”<br/>    “He was a brilliant architect for the city. He helped design the police station-that’s how he and your mom met- and the councilman offices. Even gave your mom a few ideas about how to make this house work with her seismic sense.”<br/>     “Was he earth kingdom?”<br/>     “Yeah, certainly looked like it too. You look like your mom mostly, but I can definitely see him in your eyes.”<br/>     “Was he nice?”<br/>      “Seemed to be. He made Toph really happy, that was enough of a validation for me and our other friends.”<br/>     Lin looked down at the table, a little hesitant with her next question. “Did he leave Mom because of me?”<br/>     “Definitely not. You’re mother was madly in love with him, but he got a job offer he couldn’t refuse. He assumed Toph would go to be with him, but her friends and career were here. So they decided to break up and loose all contact with each other. She didn’t find out about you until later.<br/>     “Listen Lin, I know this can’t be easy for you. My mom died when I was young and my dad left for a long time, but at least I knew who they were and had a connection with them. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be cut off completely.”<br/>     “It feels like something major is missing in my life, like a missing limb.” <br/>     “I can understand that. But you have to understand, Toph did the best she could in a devastating situation. She had no idea that not speaking to your dad would lead to his kid never knowing him, and she decided it was best for you and Su to not have your dads in and out of your lives.”<br/>     Lin looked at him with annoyed eyes. “You don’t have to pretend, Sokka. I know.”<br/>     “Know what?”<br/>    “I know that your Su Yin’s dad.”<br/>     The water tribesman dropped his mouth and stared at the girl. “You what!”<br/>     “I mean, it was kinda obvious.”<br/>     “No, it was not obvious! Your mother and I went to great lengths to make it not obvious!”<br/>     “Come on, she looks a lot like you, same skin tone and everything. And you started hanging out a lot more when Mom got pregnant. When you announced that you were together a few years back, it sealed the deal.”<br/>     Sokka fidgeted with his hands. “Does Su know?”<br/>     “Don’t think so, she’s too young to connect the dots. But why does it matter if she knows? Why not just tell her?”<br/>     “It’s... complicated. When Toph found out she was pregnant again, she got really scared. She told me I didn’t have to worry, that she would handle this all on her own like she did with you. She said that she didn’t want the baby to have a dad while you didn’t, but I think she was scared I was gonna leave if there was any pressure put on me.<br/>     “I told her that she was crazy, that I wanted to be with her. We agreed that no one would know I was the kid’s biological father, but I would raise both of you as if you two were.”<br/>     Lin sat there for a solid ten minutes, taking in all the new information that was just given to her. She mentally acknowledged that Sokka hadn’t treated her any differently than Su, and even before the pregnancy, he had always treated her like she was his own kid.<br/>     “Do you think Mom regrets being with my dad?”<br/>     “I don’t. I certainly am okay with how things turned out. I wish she hadn’t had to raise you alone, but out of that relationship came one of the greatest kids in the world.”<br/>     Lin blushed sheepishly. “Thanks for telling me all this Sokka.”<br/>      “Of course. I know I can never replace your dad, but I hope you know I love you so much.”<br/>     “I know. I love you too.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading! Comments and Kudos always appreciated.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. What I Feel</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The baby starts to kick, and Sokka and Toph reflect on the time they got together.... almost.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     “Sokka, wake up,” Toph said as she hit her hand against the man’s chest.<br/>      The water tribesman jerked awake, wondering why she would wake him up in the middle of the night. “What! Is it the baby! Is she okay?”<br/>     “I think they are kicking.”<br/>     That got his attention. Sokka immediately sat up in bed and turned to the police chief. “You really think so?”<br/>     “Why don’t you feel for yourself,” she said, placing his hand on her stomach.<br/>     The two sat in silence for a few moments, until a quick movement pushed back against  the councilman’s palm.<br/>     “Did you feel that?”<br/>     “Yeah,” he said with a smile. “I did. She’s really strong, just like her mom.”<br/>      “You keep saying ‘she’ and ‘her’. We won’t know what gender the baby is until they are born.”<br/>       “I have a feeling.”<br/>       Toph snorted, “Most of your feelings usually end up being wrong.”<br/>      “Name one time!”<br/>      “The time you said it would be so easy to get into the Earth King’s palace, the time aboard the Fire Nation ship when you said ‘things couldn’t get much worse’, the time you said we couldn’t trust Zuko, the time-“<br/>      “I said name one time,” Sokka said in a high-pitched voice. “And you had that list way too quickly, like you’d been holding onto that for a long time.”<br/>       “What can I say, I like remembering times when you were wrong.”<br/>      “Hey, you’ve been wrong before.”<br/>     “Yeah, but not often.”<br/>     “You were wrong when you said it could never work between us.”<br/>      Toph smiled, reminiscing. “Yeah, I was.”<br/>————————————————————<br/>      Sokka opened the front door and stepped inside the Beifong estate, custard tart in hand. He headed in the direction of the backyard, but stopped when he heard grumbling coming from the kitchen.<br/>      “Hey Toph,” the water tribesman said as he walked into the room. “I brought the tart like you asked.”<br/>      The chief of police slammed a dish against the counter. “Why did I let your sister talk me into this?”<br/>     “It’s a fun idea.”<br/>     “Fun for who? I certainly am not having fun.”<br/>      “What about Lin? This party is for her anyway, it’s most important that she’s having a good time.”<br/>    The mother sighed, “she seems to be. But she’s one, playing peekaboo with her makes her feel like she’s having the time of her life.”<br/>      “The first birthday is a huge milestone for a baby.”<br/>      “A milestone she won’t even remember! And because I caved and threw this party,  I’m forced to make awkward conversation with the parents of other one-year olds, who I only see for about five minutes at daycare pickup.”<br/>     “Well, what is more awkward is for host of said party to not be outside with all the guests and, you know, your daughter.”<br/>     Grabbing a plate of sandwiches from the counter, Toph turned toward the backyard. “I  guess you’re right.”<br/>     Sokka put his arm around the women. “It’s gonna be okay. Aang and Katara are here with their kids, I’m here to help you run the party, the other parents are here to help supervise. It’s gonna be great.”<br/>     Overall, the party went well. The parents mingled and talked, many overwhelmed by the fact the Avatar was there. The event was filled with many activities, including a sing-a-long and a show-and-tell by Aang, which was cut short by Toph once he started to do his marble trick. At the end of it all, Lin smashed her tiny face full of cake and had a massive sugar crash. One by one, the guests left, and it was just Sokka remaining. <br/>     “Well,” Toph said as she came from Lin’s room, “the birthday girl is out for her afternoon nap.”<br/>     “That’s good,” the councilman stated, not knowing what to say next. He began to walk towards the door when the earthbender spoke.<br/>     “Thanks for helping me with the party.”<br/>     “Thanks for inviting me.”<br/>      The chief of police fidgeted for a moment before speaking again. “I know we haven’t talked in a while, not about anything that isn’t Republic City related anyway. I’ve been busy with Lin, as I’m sure you can imagine, but it’s no excuse-“<br/>     “Toph, it’s okay, really. Friendship goes both ways. I didn’t really feel like talking.”<br/>      “Because of Suki?”<br/>       The nonbender looked up at his friend, startled. “How did you know about that?”<br/>      “Katara got a letter from her, asking if she could check up on you. She said she was getting married and wanted you to come, that she had reached out to you, but you hadn’t replied to any of your letters.”<br/>      “Didn’t want to go to my ex’s wedding. Or have correspondence with her.”<br/>      “I can understand that, believe me. I told Katara all that, but you know her. Loves to meddle.”<br/>      “That she does.”<br/>      “But the more she talked about how worried she was about you, the more it made me worried. How you weren’t going out a lot outside of your job and not eating as much when you came over for dinner. She thought if you just had a reason to get out of your apartment, then maybe-“<br/>     “Wait, that was why you invited me to Lin’s party?”<br/>     Toph shifted side to side. “It was kind of the reason I had the party in the first place.”<br/>     Sokka let out a shaky breathe. “I need a drink.”<br/>      “I’ll grab a bottle and two glasses.”<br/>      As the blind women was grabbing things from the kitchen, the councilman sat at the table, placing his head in his hands.<br/>      “Here you go.”<br/>      “Thanks,” he said, raising the glass to his lips.<br/>      “Do you want to talk about it?”<br/>      “Nothing to talk about. I’m fine.”<br/>      A hand grasped around one of his. “It’s okay if it’s not fine. What’s not okay is bottling up your feelings and pretended they don’t exist.”<br/>      The man sighed, “It’s just so hard to loose someone you care about. When I lost Yue, at least I knew why I lost her. She had a duty to her people, and it wasn’t like we were together for long. But this time feels so much worse. Everything seemed fine, then it all came crashing down. And a little over a year and a half later, she’s getting married. Like we didn’t matter.”<br/>     “Suki wouldn’t have written those letters to you if your relationship didn’t matter. I know it’s hard, but you will be able to move on from this, to take the good things that came from the time you two had together.”<br/>      Sokka looked at his table companion, tears about to fill in his eyes. “Did that happen for you?”<br/>      She nodded, “when I gave birth to Lin. The healer placed her in my arms and I could feel her heart beating alongside mine.  All the pain I had been holding in about Kanto was gone, all the rage I had toward him leaving me melted away. My daughter was depending on me for everything, I couldn’t let what happened in the past with her father hold me back anymore.”<br/>     The man smiled. “That little girl does have a way of making all your problems seem insignificant.”<br/>     “That will happen for you too, Sokka. Hopefully with not something as drastic as having a baby, but it will happen.”<br/>      The nonbender looked over at the other person, deciding to tell her the truth. “Do you know why me and Suki broke up?”<br/>      “No, but you don’t have to-“<br/>      “We broke up because of you.”<br/>      The women flinched, shocked by what she just heard. “Me?”<br/>     “It was when you announced to the world you were pregnant that things started to go downhill. The tabloids were buzzing about all the time you and I spent together, saying I was the baby’s father, or had run him out of town so I could have you all to myself.”<br/>      “Ugh, I remember that. They were at my house for days. Finally went away when I accidentally puked on one of the reporters.”<br/>       “I told her it was all fake and she believed me, but that didn’t make the rumors go away. The final straw for Suki was when reporters swarmed her the day she visited the city, asking if we were still together or if I was seeing both of you at the same time. Next thing I knew, she was telling me that she loved me but it was too hard to deal with the constant rumors that I was in love with my best friend.”<br/>      “Well, good riddance I say if she let all those crazy stories get to her.”<br/>     The water tribesman took a deep breath before saying, “the thing is, I don’t think they were just crazy stories.”<br/>      Toph’s eyes went wide as she got up from the table. “And I think you have had too much to drink.”<br/>      She reached for the cups before her hand was grasped. <br/>      “Sokka, please don’t do this.”<br/>      “Why not? You want me to pretend I don’t have feelings for you?”<br/>      “Yes! I did that for you! I had feelings for you too, you know. For a long time. But you were with Suki, so I did the right thing. I backed off and I moved on. Now it’s your turn.”<br/>      “But your not with anyone!”<br/>      “And why do you think that is?” Tears started streaming down the women’s face. “You think I want to be alone. No, I hate it! But I have Lin to think about now. I can’t just be with anyone whenever. What I do affects her. It doesn’t matter what I feel, she comes first, always.”<br/>      “So you do have feeling for me.”<br/>      “Yes, Sokka, I have feelings for you. I thought I had gotten over it, but the more I saw and talked to you, the more I realized that wasn’t the case. So I stopped. Are you happy now?”<br/>      “I’ll be happy when you say you’ll give us a chance.”<br/>       “I will not be your rebound.”<br/>       “You are not my rebound, you are who I want to be with.”<br/>       “That is a lie. And you know that is a lie because you wouldn’t have been with Suki for years if you really wanted to be with me.”<br/>        “That’s like saying you wouldn’t have been with Kanto if you really wanted to be with me.”<br/>       “That was different. All I was trying to do was move on, and it worked. I was happy, I was in love, everything was perfect. And then it ended and I was alone again. Except with a major change.”<br/>       “Lin. I know.”<br/>      “Everything I do, I do for her. Even right now, I am trying not to scream my head off at you so that she doesn’t wake up from her nap.”<br/>       “You can’t use Lin as an excuse to keep yourself from being happy.”<br/>      The earthbender placed her hands on her hips. “And what makes you think we’d be happy? We have no idea how we’d be as a couple. For all we know we would never stop fighting or explaining ourselves to the press. You are hurt that things with Suki are over, so you’ve built this fantasy in your head that I’m the one you wanted all along.”<br/>      “I never said that.”<br/>      Suddenly, Toph quickly walked to the front door and opened it. “I’m not doing this with you. Get out of my house and don’t come back until you are sure you can walk in without doing anything stupid like this again.”<br/>      “Telling you how I felt was not stupid.”<br/>      “Yes, it was, because it wasn’t real. Now leave before I arrest you for trespassing.”<br/>     With that, Sokka left. The door shut behind him, and he heard sobs from the other side.<br/>————————————————————<br/>      “Yep, you were pretty wrong about us.”<br/>     “You were the one who came to me a week later asking to forget about the whole thing and go back to being friends.”<br/>      The man put his arm around her. “I could deal with not being with you. I couldn’t handle not being your friend.”<br/>      “I don’t regret it, you know. Turning you down.”<br/>      “I never expected you to. In the end I think you were right. I needed time to understand why I felt the way I did about you. I needed to know for sure it wasn’t just because of heartache. And look at us now.”<br/>      The female yawned. “We should probably go back to sleep. I have to pick Lin up from Air Temple Island in the morning.”<br/>      “In a minute,” he responded as he placed his hand on her stomach. “I want to feel her kick just a little longer.”<br/>      “We still don’t know it’s a- oh, forget it!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading. I wanted to make sure I wrote this chapter before tomorrow because I’ll be pretty occupied this weekend. I intended to just write a short one, but it just built on itself. Hope you enjoyed!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. It’s All We Can Do</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sokka tries to build a crib for his child, and he ends up admitting how hard this whole thing is for him.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     “You do realize this crib is made of metal, right? It would take me all of three seconds to finish putting it together. You’ve been fiddling with it all day.”<br/>
      “Of course you can do it, but I want to do it,” Sokka insisted. “You should be resting, not bending.”<br/>
     “Oh, come on. Katara waterbended throughout all of her three pregnancies.”<br/>
     “Yes, and Aang got to fuss at her over it. Now it’s my turn.”<br/>
     The earthbender smiled. “It is kind of nice to have someone worry about me.”<br/>
     “And besides, it’s the least I can do. You’re carrying the baby, you’re going to raise the baby. At least I’ll have built this crib.”<br/>
     Her smile faded. “You still feeling guilty?”<br/>
     The councilman sighed, “I’m never not going to feel guilty about this.”<br/>
     The two had decided that for the time being, it was best that they didn’t disclose their relationship to anyone outside close friends and family. But that also meant that they couldn’t move in together or act like two parents. Toph would be the mom and as far as the world was concerned, Sokka was just a supportive uncle.<br/>
     “This whole thing is so much harder than I thought it would be,” she admitted. “I thought that because I had done this whole thing alone before, I could just repeat how it had happened the first time. I guess it’s different when you have to see the person you’re supposed to be doing this with everyday.”<br/>
     “Believe me, I know,” the nonbender said as he stood up. “But this time is very different. I’m going to be there for you and the kids in whatever way I can be. It’s not going to be perfect, but it’s all we can do.”<br/>
     Toph hugged the man and breathed deeply. “You don’t have to build a crib to show us all how much you care. You’ve already proven that through how you’ve treated Lin all this time.”<br/>
     “Yeah, I get that. I still just want to do this one thing.”<br/>
     “No, seriously stop. That thing is not being put together properly and there is no way I’m putting my baby in that thing.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know this is a short one but I still think it’s super sweet. I hope you are all doing well right now and thank you for reading.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Kind of Person You’ll Become</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sokka talks to newborn Suyin.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sokka held the newborn in his arms. He couldn’t believe that she was finally here.<br/>     “Hey, Suyin,” he whispered, “I’m your dad, but throughout your life you’ll know me as Uncle Sokka. I may not always be there for you the way I want to be, but I’ll be there in anyway I can. You have already brought such joy into my life and you aren’t even a day old. I can’t wait to meet the person you’ll become.”<br/>     Then, the nonbender rocked the baby until she fell asleep, safe in his arms.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, this is the final chapter for this series. Lately, I’ve noticed my lack of motivation to write for this work grow and the ideas I have are few and far between. I’m glad I wrote this, but it’s time for me to move on to other projects. Thanks so much for reading!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>That’s my fic! If there is an interest in it, I might make this a multi-chapter thing with snapshots of different times in their lives. I would also really love to do more with the relationship between Sokka and Lin- it was never talked about in LOK so I think it could be fun to explore.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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